Sinclair IQ, the fruit firmness testing specialist has announced the appointment of Mike Davies as product manager for North America.

Sinclair IQ is a division of UK company Sinclair International Ltd, a world leader in fresh produce labelling. The company has now developed the Sinclair Internal Quality Firmness Tester (SIQ-FT) for use by fruit distributors and packing operations world-wide. The SIQ-FT is a non-destructive online system for measuring the firmness of individual fruit to predict ripeness levels.

Davies said: 'The SIQ-FT system is the way forward in determining product firmness during production and accurately predicting ripeness to better meet consumer demands. This is an exciting time for the fresh produce supply industry with great potential to change the way business is done between packhouses and retailers.' The SIQ-FT is compatible with all major sizing equipment and enables fruit to be sorted online into multiple bands of firmness. Fruit of a specified ripeness and consistent quality can be selected, enabling premium grade 'ready to eat' produce to be supplied to retail markets.

Operating online at high commercial speeds of up to 10 fruit per second, the system eliminates the need for destructive sampling, reducing product wastage and cost. Product applications include avocado, mango, kiwifruit, stonefruit and apples.

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